Health and Safety

Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety Policy

Purpose of the Policy

This Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety Policy has been designed and put in place to ensure that Mercator Enterprises’ shareholders, directors, employees and suppliers use their best endeavours to safeguard the health & safety of all Mercator Enterprises’ client passengers at all times.

The Policy

1. The Health & Safety of Mercator Enterprises’ client passengers is of paramount importance to all Mercator Enterprises’ shareholders, directors, employees, and suppliers – at all times; and therefore Health & Safety forms a central part of Mercator Enterprises’ corporate culture and ethos – and is embedded and placed at the heart of Mercator Enterprises’ operations at all times.

2. Mercator Enterprises will only use established, accredited suppliers who meet the tourist authority standard in the countries in which they operate, and who have all the necessary regulatory accreditations and licences – including those that pertain to the area of Health & Safety – to be authorised to operate and provide the services they do under the laws of the country(ies) in which they operate.

3. Mercator Enterprises only uses hotels directly where such hotels maintain any up-to-date fire safety and health and hygiene certification from their local regulatory authorities; and/or use in-coming ground supplier tour operators who use their best endeavours to ensure the hotels they use comply with the same.

4. Mercator Enterprises only uses in-coming ground supplier tour operators who regularly make inspections of the hotels they use.

5. Mercator Enterprises will only use in-coming ground supplier tour operators who supply transfer and transportation and/or car hire services (whether directly or via sub-contractors) who use their best endeavours to ensure the regular inspection, upkeep and maintenance of the vehicles that they use for transfers and/or tours and excursions.

6. Mercator Enterprises will only use in-coming ground supplier tour operators who supply tours and excursions (whether directly or via sub-contractors) where the relevant tour and excursion staff are qualified to undertake the activity offered, and where the supplier of any tour or excursion or activity to be undertaken by Mercator Enterprises’ clients can demonstrate they use their best endeavours to operate any such tour or excursion or activity according to relevant Health and Safety standards & regulations; and who have all the necessary regulatory accreditations and licences – including those that pertain to the area of Health & Safety – to be authorised to operate and provide the services they do under the laws of the country(ies) in which they operate.

7. Mercator Enterprises only uses suppliers who can demonstrate that they have working practices and standard operating procedures in place to use their best endeavours to comply with the Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety policy requirements as detailed in clauses 2-6 above.

8. Mercator Enterprises only uses in-coming ground supplier tour operators who offer client passengers a local 24/7 emergency hotline for assistance when in the local country of visit.

9. Mercator Enterprises only uses in-coming ground supplier tour operators who afford additional protection to the passengers who utilise their services with public liability insurance cover wherever it is available – unless in the view of Mercator Enterprises’ Directors there is good reason why this is not possible, and no alternative is available.

10. Mercator Enterprises is a member of ABTA and adheres to all ABTA codes of practice.

11. Mercator Enterprises is a member of LATA (the UK’s Latin America Travel Association) and where possible seeks to use in-coming ground supplier tour operators who are members of LATA, and who sign up to LATA Health & Safety procedures and standards and who in turn utilise LATA Health & Safety audits.

12. Mercator Enterprises maintains at all times its own separate Mercator Enterprises’ Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance, as well as separate Financial Failure and Supplier Failure Insurances and an ATOL Licence.

12. a) For the purposes of soft adventure activities such as (but not limited to) those listed below, for the avoidance of any doubt Mercator Enterprises’ own Public Liability Insurance, held with Tour Indemnity and underwritten by RSA, includes subrogation rights relating to the separate Public Liability Insurances held by Mercator Enterprises’ in-country local suppliers and/or by any of the suppliers’ sub-contractors. Example soft adventure activities to which this clause 12.a) applies are:

13. Mercator Enterprises makes it a mandatory and compulsory requirement of their Client Booking Terms & Conditions that every client passenger who travels with Mercator Enterprises provides evidence of having adequate travel insurance including public liability, personal injury, illness & medical, and life cover in place for any trip booked via Mercator Enterprises.

14. This Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety policy is kept under constant review and at the very minimum a review, and any updating or amendment required, is made an agenda item of a Mercator Enterprises Ltd monthly board meeting at least once a year.

Execution and Maintenance of the Policy

The following paragraphs are not just commentary on this Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety Policy, they also form an intrinsic and integral part of the policy itself.

I. Mercator Enterprises requires that each of its suppliers ensures that they use their best endeavours to ensure that all services provided by them to Mercator Enterprises conform to clauses 1 to 9 above of this Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety Policy. Such written confirmation is sought and updated from each Mercator Enterprises’ supplier on an annual basis so as to ensure it remains current.

II. Mercator Enterprises retains copies of the above supplier agreements on file at all times, so that they can be referenced or inspected at any time by any relevant party.

III. All Mercator Enterprises’ shareholders, directors and employees are issued with a copy of this Health & Safety policy on joining Mercator Enterprises and are required to sign to acknowledge that they have read it and understood it, and that they will abide by it. Mercator Enterprises retains copies of the above acknowledgements on file at all times, so that they can be referenced or inspected at any time by any relevant party.

V. A link to this Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety Policy is maintained on Mercator Enterprises’ web site, enabling the open-access public web site display of this Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety policy.

It is the shared responsibility of all Mercator Enterprises’ shareholders, directors, staff and suppliers to ensure that this Mercator Enterprises’ Health & Safety policy is maintained at all times, however the ‘ownership’ of the policy and the policing of the execution of this policy ultimately sits with the Managing Director of Mercator Enterprises Limited, owner of Revealed Travel and Mercator Travel.